Neighbors of Dighton Council Oak express concerns about gravel removal

Christopher Nichols

Friday

Feb 24, 2012 at 12:01 AMFeb 24, 2012 at 5:10 PM

Public opposition to the proposed gravel removal from land adjacent to the Council Oak is not limited to the Dighton Intertribal Indian Council.

Public opposition to the proposed gravel removal from land adjacent to the Council Oak is not limited to the Dighton Intertribal Indian Council.

Many neighbors of the Council Oak also voiced their dissatisfaction with the proposal.
“For one, this is a neighborhood for kids,” said Carla Ceurvels, who lives on Council Oak Way. “This whole area, all kids. It’s just not reasonable at all. It just doesn’t make sense.”

G. Lopes Construction Inc., who owns a strip of land adjacent to the Council Oak — a sacred Native American site — will appear before the Dighton Board of Selectmen on March 7 to get approval for the gravel removal.

The town of Dighton owns a 50-ft. by 100-ft. parcel of land surrounding the Council Oak, so the tree itself will not be dug up, according to Roger Desrosiers — “Gray Fox” — Steward of the Council Oak for the Dighton Intertribal Council. He did say the gravel removal would damage the roots of the already-fragile 450-900 year old tree.

Desrosiers also said the land G. Lopes is proposing to turn into a gravel pit was the site of a Native American village that existed for 7,000-8,000 years, and many people were likely buried there.

“They need to rest in peace up there, not have their gravesites disturbed,” he said. “People don’t realize how sacred that land is to the Natives.”

“This is sacred, sacred land,” said Donna Desrosiers — “Spirit Fox” — Roger’s wife and another Steward of the Council Oak.

Jill Zajac, an attorney representing G. Lopes Construction, said “extensive archaeological digs and reports” were conducted on the land in question around 2005 or 2006, and nothing was found.

“They did find some things. They didn’t find the burial sites,” said Roger Desrosiers of the archaeological digs, where he served as Trail Chief during the digs.

Heidi Swist, office manager for the Dighton Planning Board, could not be reached to verify the results of the archaeological digs due to the Planning Board office being closed from Feb. 16 to Feb. 28.

Neighbors’ reactions
While many neighbors expressed concern about what the gravel pit would mean to the Native Americans, they were also concerned about what the proposal would mean for their neighborhood, as heavy equipment would likely travel through residential areas.

“This is not a commercial property,” said Nicole Aftosmes, who also resides on Council Oak Way. “There are too many kids. It’s going to be dirty and dusty.”

“It’s a quiet neighborhood,” said Nicole Ceurvels, a Council Oak Way resident.
“It’s very quiet,” added Aftosmes. “We moved from Taunton to here.”

Aftosmes and the Ceurvels said they moved to the area for the peace and quiet, but they were worried that gravel removal would create noise, dirt and dust.

“It’s way too windy. This is like a wind pit,” said Nicole Ceurvels.

“The dirt is going to be astronomical,” added Carla Ceurvels. “...I owned a house in Bridgewater, but I moved here because it was a small town. No one’s going to want to move here anymore.”

Ellen Bidlack, Chair of the Community Preservation Committee, also expressed concern about the proposal.

“I’m very concerned about it,” she said. “First off, it’s going to endanger town property. It’s also part of the history of that site.”

Bidlack said she was also worried about equipment travelling through neighborhoods.

“It seems to me it’s also inappropriate to take gravel out of a residential area like that,” she said, expressing her concern as a private citizen and not speaking for the Community Preservation Committee.

“Right now, it’s not really something that we can get involved in,” she said.

Many members of the Dighton Intertribal Indian Council are expected to attend the public selectmen’s meeting on March 7, and many neighbors to the Council Oak said they were also planning to attend.

“There’s no positive about it at all,” said Aftosmes.

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